Bulkhead door and the like and fastening means for same



June 13, 1950 K. L. SCHIFF 2,511,268

BULKHEAD DOOR AND THE LIKE AND FASTENING MEANS FOR SAME Filed May 3,1946 INVENTOR Karl sckh l I BYZ a u' A TTORNE Y Patented June 13, 1950BULKHEAD DOOR AND HE LIKE AND FASTENING ,MEAN S FOR SAME Kai-11L.Schifli, Philadelphia, Pa., assignor. to. The

Budd Company, A Bhilaclelphia. Pa, a corporation of PennsylvaniaApplication May 3; 1946, SeriaiNo. 667,092

'7 Claims. (01. 114-117) hatches, scuttles or covers especially forclosing fiuidtightly the bulkheads, hatchways and the like of ships,airplanes and other structures.

More particularly, theinventionrelates in part to an improvement of themechanism and the ar rangement thereof forming the-subject matter of theapplication Serial No. 621,322, of Ellis L. Jacob, filed October 9,1945, for-Q.uick operating door.

The main object of the invention is a door; batch or the likeconstruction in which. the entire or practically the entire operatingand closing mechanism is carried by the stationary door frame and isunder normal conditions removed from outside influence, such as Weather,sand, dust and water.

The aforesaid and other objects and advantages are achieved mainly bycombining the arrangement of the dogs for clamping the door or the 2like shut and the lever-and-rod system for oper-v ating the dogs on theframe'of the door or the like opening, the door or the like carryingonly the wedges to be engaged by thedogs, and the arrangement of thelever-and-rod system for operating the dogs in the interior of thestructure tobe closed with the arrangement of the dogs likewise on theinside where they engage undercut portions, provided with the Wedges, ofthe door or the like.

The invention and its advantageswill be more easily understood from theembodiments illustrated in the attached. drawing and described in thefollowing:

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a small-scale inside elevation of a hatch in closedposition, of the surrounding frame and adjoining portion of a bulkheador the like;

Figures 2 and'3 are fragmentary sections along lines 2--2 and 3--3respectively of Figure 1 on a larger scale;

Figure 4 is a fragmentary section similar to Figure 3' illustratingdiagrammatically another embodiment; and

Figure 5 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 5-5 of Figure4.

A bulkhead or the like ID of a ship or other structure-has its marginaround an openingreinforced by an angle-section frame ll having its onewide arm 12 in overlapping relation with the. margin of and welded tothe wall While the other arm [3 projects toward the outside. Supportedon the frame H by hinges I4 is the door or hatch l5 which comprises amain panel l6 and marginal rails I1 and t8, the latter holding a 2sealing strip 19. When the door is closed, the outer margin of frame armI3 pressesagainst the inner surface of the-sealing strip- |.9.andprovides for fluid.- andgas-tight seal.

Secured to the inside and near the margin of the hatch are, inFigures 1. toByhousingor boxlike. structures 2E]. having walls 2|adjoining and extending transversely to panel It. and having an. endwall22. extending parallel to and-at adise tame from [panel IE The open.side of each stru ture 2li:fa esoutwardly away from the cen! er of. the,hatch.

The members constitut ng. thehatch consist. of sheet tal, or instance.ordinary arbon sheet steel, or high-tensile material such as chromiumnickel stainlesssteel, and arepreferably-oonnegt, ed with each other byelectric spot or seam weld i g in the eions i r ap. Hind-.133. flliQIlWdin respectively, as indicated at difierent places in the drawing.

Wedges '23, are, riveted, in Figures 1 to .3, to the end walls, 22 inthe interior of the-box structures 20. One of these box structures andof the Wedges; is arranged at each-of the four corners of the hatch, butmore will be distributed at about equal distances, from each other andfrom the corners, along the sides of larger doors. For closing thehatch, the wedges 23 are engaged by (logs 24, 25 rotatably supported bythe, door frame Opposite the. location of all but one of the wedges 231abracket 26 is welded to the inside of arm I2. of the door frame i I andis provided with a bearing pin or shaft 21 screw threaded on its innerend 23. Rotatably supported by the members .26, '21,,a bushing andWashers 29, 3ii, and a nut 3| screwed on the portion 28, is a hub 32which, is, connected with operating levers 33, 34 and a dog 24. Intheclosed position, illustrated in Figures 1 to 3, the dog extendsthrough the open side of the adjacent box structure 20 and engages thewedge 23 therein.

Opposite the location of the one remainingwedge 23, a hollow bushing ortube 36 extends through a hole in arm 12 of the, door frame II and iswelded in the, hoie. A shaft, 31 is journalled in the bushing or sleeve36 by means of bushings 38, a fluid seal 39, and washers '40. The outerend of'the shaft 31 is permanently connected or forms one piece with anoperating handle 4i provided with a shoulder 42 which restsagainst theouter washers 40, while the innerend of shaft 31 has a square-sectionportion 43 and a screw threaded portion 44 over which fits theinteriorly correspondingly shaped portion 45 integral with 3 dog 25,inner operating handle 46, and lever 41. The unit 45 to 41 is held inplace by a nut 48.

The ends of the levers 33, 34 and 41 are journalled to andinterconnected by four rods or links 49 and by bolts, washers and nuts50. lZhe arrangement is such that upon movement of one or both of theoperating handles 41, 46 about the axis of their shaft 31 all dogs 24,25 will be swung by means of the rods 49 and the levers 33, 34, 31either into the locking position in which they engage the wedges 23 andpoint toward the center of the door, that is, into the position shown inthe drawing, or into the open position. In the open position not onlythe dogs but the entire lever-and-rod system is outside the confines ofthe door opening, as is clearly apparent.

For the purpose of holding the entire locking mechanism in the openposition, the lever 41 is provided with a spring biased plunger 51engaging the outer surface of the bushing 36 which is provided with adeep recess (not shown) into which the plunger i is pressed when thelever 41 has reached the open position and from which it can be removedonly by applying a considerable amount of force on one or both of thelevers M, 46 in the closing direction.

It is obvious that the door can be opened or closed, respectively, byswinging one of the levers 4| or 46 about an angle of approximately 90and that in the open position no member of the operating mechanism or ofthe door projects into the door opening. It is further obvious that thedoor can be extremely light because it does not have to carry theoperating mechanism.

For the embodiment diagrammatically illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 thesame reference numerals are used for corresponding parts. In thisembodiment, the door rail I1 has a wide web 52 provided adjacent theinner arm with a slot 53 at the location of each dog 2-1. The wedges 23are secured to the underside of the rail arm 54. The slot 53 is ofsufficient width and length to permit, the free movement of the dog 24into and out of engagement with the wedge 23. On both sides of thelocation of each wedge and the appertaining opening 53 the doorstructure is advantageously reinforced by webs 55 welded or otherwisesecured to the web 52 and flange 22 of the door rail I1 and to theadjoining portion of the door panel I6.

While for the second embodiment only the construction at the location ofone of the dogs is illustrated, it is obvious that it will be connectedwith other dogs, operating handles, etc., in similar manner as shown inFigures 1 to 3.

In both embodiments, the inner operating handle may be connected withthe inner dog, but at this location the dog may also be located on theoutside and engage a wedge secured to the outside of the door, asdisclosed in the aforementioned application because penetration of thewall by the operating shaft connected to the outer handle is necessaryanyhow.

Only the main elements of the door which have a bearing on the presentinvention are illustrated in detail in the drawing and described in theforegoing. It is obvious, however, that the door will be provided withsuch accessories as are customary or may be desired.

The invention is not restricted to the illustrated embodiments but issusceptible to modifications which will occur to those skilled in theart and are covered by the spirit and the language of the attachedclaims.

What is claimed is:

1. A closure structure comprising: a wall such as a bulkhead, said walldefining an opening; and a cover such as a hatch for the opening adaptedfor movement toward and into overlapping engagement with the one side ofsaid wall; a plurality of movable dogs and common operating means forsame arranged on and supported by the other side of said wall; saidcover having a main panel and an angle-section marginal rail on the sideof the cover engaging the wall, said rail having one arm extendingtransversely to and a second arm spaced from and generally parallel tosaid main panel, the surface of said second arm facing the main panelbeing arranged and constructed for engagement by said dogs to releasablyhold the cover against said wall.

2. In a closure structure comprising a wall such as a bulkhead around anopening, a cover such as a hatch adapted for closing said opening bymovement toward and into overlapping engagement with the one side ofsaid wall, a plurality of movable dogs and of common operating means forsame secured to and arranged on the other side of said Wall, said coverhaving a main panel and an angle-section marginal rail connected withsaid panel on the side of said cover engaging the wall, said rail havingone arm extending transversely to and a second arm spaced from andgenerally parallel to said main panel, said second arm extending fromsaid first arm in the direction of the center of the cover, openings insaid first arm opposite the location of said dogs permitting movement ofthe latter therethrough into and out of engagement with means providedon the surface of said second arm facing the main panel to releasablyhold the cover against said wall.

3. In a closure structure comprising a wall such as a bulkhead around anopening, a cover such as a hatch for the opening adapted for movementinto overlapping engagement with the one side of said wall, a pluralityof movable dogs, and supports therefor and common operating means forsaid dogs arranged on the other side of said wall, said cover having amain panel, means for engagement with said dogs at the location of saiddogs on said cover on the side engaging the wall, said last means havinga web extending transversely and secured to said main panel and havingan arm on said web spaced from and generally parallel to said mainpanel, said web having an opening for movement of the respective dogtherethrough into engagement with the surface of said arm facing themain panel to releasably hold the cover against said wall.

4. In a closure structure comprising a wall around an opening and acover for the latter marginally overlapping the one side of said wall, aplurality of movable dogs mounted on the other side of said wall andmeans on said cover on the side engaging the wall arranged andconstructed for engagement by said dogs to releasably hold the coveragainst said wall.

5. A cover for a bulkhead opening provided on one side with peripheralmeans formed for engagement with margins of said opening, said coverhaving a main panel and an angle section rail paralleling the peripheryof the cover and being spaced from said periphery by said engagingperipheral means, said rail having one arm extending transversely to anda second arm spaced from and generally parallel to said main panel, thesurface of said second arm which faceg the main panel being provided ata plurality of locations distributed over the periphery of the door withmeans for the engagement by fastening dogs carried by a bulkhead forreleasably holding the cover with its peripheral means against themargins of said bulkhead opening.

6. A cover for a bulkhead opening provided on one side with peripheralmeans formed for engagement with margins of said opening, said coverhaving a main panel and an angle section rail paralleling the peripheryof the cover and being spaced from said periphery by said engagingperipheral means, said rail having one arm extending transversely to anda second arm spaced from and generally parallel to said main panel, saidsecond arm extending from said first arm toward the center of the cover,the surface of said second arm which faces the main panel being providedat a plurality of locations distributed over the periphery of the doorwith means for the engagement by fastening dogs carried by a bulkheadfor releasably holding the cover with its peripheral means against themargins of said bulkhead opening, and said first arm being provided atthe same locations with open ings permitting movement of said dogsthere-' through.

7. A cover for a bulkhead opening provided on one side with peripheralmeans formed for engagement with the margins of such opening, said coverhaving a main panel and a plurality of second means at locations nearand located at spaced points along the periphery of the cover, saidsecond means having a web extending transversely and secured to saidmain panel and having an arm on said web spaced from and generallyparallel to said main panel, said web providing for an openingpermitting therethrough the movement of fastening dogs carried by abulkhead and the dogs engagement with the surface of said second armfacing the main panel to releasably hold said cover with its peripheralmeans against the margins of the bulkhead opening.

KARL L. SCI-EFF.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 797,768 Fisher Aug. 22, 19051,953,737 Zimmer Apr. 3, 1934 2,179,495 Court et a1 Nov. 14, 19392,383,435 Jacob Aug. 21, 1945

